Tire construction



April 18, 1933;

W. A. KARL TIRE CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 2, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR MLLIFUVL R "(m n gmm/W 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR W'uum-m. (FULL.

BY 8% w ATTORNEYS,

Patented Apr. 18, 1933 WILLIAM A. KARL, or AKRON, OHIO, AssIGNoR 'To mrrE'iFmEsToNmTIR :a 3113mm COMPANY, OF AKRON, OHIO','. AZ QOBPOBATION a.

TIRE Genera-neuron; 7

Application filed October 2; 1929., s' ria n ;,saa zasi This invention relates to improvements in pneumatic tire construction, andmore particularly to the bead construction thereof.

Heretofore, in building pneumatic tires it 5 has been customary to surround the bead with a reinforcing ply or flipper strip which is adapted to lie between certain plies of the tire to secure the bead in the tire. This flipper strip has, so far as known, always been made 19 of a strong woven rubberized fabric and is quite expensive, Strips of gum are required in such bead construction, these being applied along the edges of the flipper strip.

It has been found that bulk about the beads is'niore essential than strength,'such bulk reducing the flexing ofthe tire adjacent the beads where flexing is undesirable.

It is an object of the invention to replac the strong, expensive woven fabric bead. flip- 29 per strip with a more desirable and compara tively inexpensive material which will give the necessary bulk and .which will firmly bond with the tire plies, and which does not require the use of gum strips at its edges.

A material having these desirable characteristics for use as a bead flipper has been developed by milling cotton fibres with a comparatively cheap rubber stock, the milled stock being calendered to the desired thick- 30 ness which tends to align the fibres in the di rection the stock is run through the calender. This aligning of the fibres 'in one direction gives strength to the fibre stock in that direction. i

A form of the invention is shown in the attached drawings and described below, this specific disclosure being illustrative of one embodiment only of the invention, it being understood that the invention in its broad- 40 est aspects is not limited to details which may be set forth herein.

Of the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side e-levationof a section of a tire embodying the invention, certain portions of which are cut away to more adequately show the construction thereof;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of Figure 1 taken on line 22 thereof.

A tire 10 in the embodiment of the invention shown includes plies 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

and 16, the usual cushion strip .17, breaker 18, tread l9, sidewalls 20, 20, chafer strips 21,

a reinforcing strip 22 between the chafer strip 21 and the sixth ply'16, and the bead flipper23. V 1

The present invention is primarily con-.

cerned with the bead flipper 23. This flipper; is formed of a strip of felted fibre stock of substantial tickness, in which the fibres are. more or less aligned longitudinally of the material in the direction the felt isrun when 'itis' made, and is applied so that the fibres in theflipper extend circumferentially of the bead. This provides longitudinal strength in the flipperstrip yet permits lateral give which isdesirable in flipping the strip about the bead and in stitching the assembly in 1 place on the tire carcass. Asusual in head flipper construction, the portion of the flipper 23 lying on the inside of the bead extends up into the-sidewall of the tire carcass further than that on the outside of the bead. L

The felted fibre bead flipper gives the bead assembly suflicient bulk; It has suflicient strength circ-umferentially for securing the bead properly while being adapted to be easily applied about the bead and stitched into place in thetire. It bonds effectively in the carcass of the tire and gum stripping about the edges of the flipper strip are not required. p g

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a greatly improved,yet more economical bead construction for tires has been provided by the invention. tions of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a pneumatic tire construction, a tire Obviously various modifica carcass formed of a plurality of pliesof V suitable material, a pair of beads embedded at the inner periphery of said carcass, and a flipper about each bead and extending between certain of the plies into the sidewalls of the tire, said flipper being formed of strip material'including fibres felted with rubber,

in which the fibres extend circumferentially of the bead. I

2. On ,bead constructions for pneumatic fibrous material.

the combination of abead, aflipper about said x 10 'bead'having av-portionjvextending up into the "sidewall; of the tire between certain of the plies thereof, said flipper comprising felted e fibrous material, the fibres of said material running circumferentiallyof thebe'adL e p WILLIAM A. KARL. v 

